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Features April 3, 2023

Greg Peterson Honoured

Greg Peterson’s ongoing hard-work and dedication is woven into the fabric of the Calgary sports community.

And this past weekend, the former Stamps defensive back and current colour commentator was recognized yet again for his efforts when he was named the Calgary Booster Club’s sportsperson of the year.

“Well, it’s a big honour,” said Peterson. “I always looked up to the people who were sportspersons of the year and so to win it is a really big honour, especially when you consider all the names on the trophy going back to 1954.”

It’s the third time he’s been honoured by the Booster Club, the first being when he won the Harry Hood award for outstanding high school football player in 1977-78 when he attended Dr. E.P. Scarlett High School, and the other for being a CFL all-star in 1990.

“I was born and raised Calgarian and so I love Calgary. I think it’s a great city,” explained Peterson, who is the current president and director of the Greater Calgary Amateur Football Association and the Calgary Spring Football Association.

“I now sit on the board of the Calgary Chamber of Commerce. I just think we have a beautiful city, very business-like and entrepreneurial. Obviously, because I played sports growing up I was a huge sports fan, particularly of the Calgary Stampeders. Back when I was growing up they were the only sports team in Calgary. The Flames didn’t come until a lot later, I think I was in my twenties or even thirties at the time.

“So, it’s just the fact that I grew up looking up to these Stampeder players and going to Stampeders games, that gave me a real drive to get into minor football and help minor football in Calgary.

“I saw what it does for me, and I know what football does for young players, young kids, and I think it’s a great game to teach life skills. So, I’m really passionate about that.”

And he’s put his passion to good use.

The Brigham Young University alum played a pivotal role in the development of the Shouldice football fields and the Shouldice Seasonal Dome.

How did it all come together?

Peterson explains.

“We didn’t have anything in Calgary. When we as Greater Calgary (Amateur Football Association), and Tony (Spoletini) and I really started working on the Shouldice fields there was only one artificial turf field in Calgary, and that was at McMahon Stadium. Obviously, the Stamps are busy using it. Compare that at the time to other cities, Edmonton had four and even Saskatoon, a city of 250,000, had four. We were just so far behind with artificial turf fields.

“We need artificial turf fields here in Calgary because of the weather. We were always getting games cancelled, our kids couldn’t play and then in the October and November months it was really hard field, so it was such a dire need it just drove us to get the field. Then, it went from being an idea of just one field to three.

“When we had finished Shouldice I was in Salt Lake City at the school where I went to play collegiate football at, BYU, and they have a big indoor facility and I saw all the high school kids there. They play in the winter months and hold high school practices and I thought to myself ‘Shoot, why can’t Calgary have something like this. We need it more than Utah.’

“So, I went back and told Tony about that, and Tony and I decided, ‘Look, let’s as the next project for Greater Calgary Amateur Football Association, we should drive to get a dome. We desperately need one.’

“So, that’s how it took off and it went from an idea to getting it going, getting funding, and then the Stamps stepped in and provided us funding and we just didn’t take no for an answer and just kept driving away until six years later we finally got it done.”

The Calgary native suited up for the Red and White from 1984 to 1992. He accumulated 305 total tackles, 22 interceptions, seven fumble recoveries, and two touchdowns in that span. He was named a CFL all-star in 1990 and won a Grey Cup championship with the club in his final season.

Shortly after retiring from the football field, Peterson joined Mark Stephen in the radio booth at QR in 1994. The duo has been covering games ever since and are the longest-serving broadcast team in CFL history.

Worth noting that Peterson and Stephen will be inducted into the Alberta Sports Hall of Fame alongside former Stampeders quarterback Andrew Buckley (2015-17), next month.

“It’s very well-earned,” Stephen said of his broadcast partner receiving the (Booster Club) award. “He does a lot of things. Not only does he chair the Greater Calgary Football Association, but also works for us during the season (QR Calgary), and he has a full-time law career to deal with too, so he’s non-stop and doing so many things.

“He’s put a lot of time and effort into ensuring there were those Shouldice fields, the three fields that we have. They can host a lot of amateur football games from Peewees, etcetera, right through high school and Colts. So, that’s in conjunction with some other parts of his legacy and he also was very instrumental in getting that dome put there.”

Public use of the Shouldice Seasonal Dome opened late last year, just in time for the Stampeders to utilize the building before their playoff matchup with the BC Lions when the city was hit with a severe snowfall warning in early November.

That week marked the first indoor practice in team history, and it surely won’t be the last with Calgary weather turning on a dime – even in June.

“Let’s give props to the guys that put this together,” said Stamps general manager and head coach Dave Dickenson after the team’s first practice in the Dome last season. “It’s a nice facility. It’s something we should have had 20 years ago, but we got it now and we used it. We practiced fast and we got better today and those are all good things.”